The U.S. federal regulators want to impose a civil fine of 16.4 million U.S. dollars against Toyota Motor Corp. for failing to notify the auto safety agency of the dangerous "sticky pedal" defect for at least four months, the Detroit News reported Monday.
The penalty is the maximum the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can levy under federal law, and could be the largest NHTSA has ever imposed against an auto manufacturer. It also reflects a new far more aggressive stance by the safety agency.
Approximately 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. were recalled in January for the sticky pedal defect. Toyota separately has recalled 5.4 million vehicles over pedal entrapment issues, though some vehicles are impacted by both.
Auto manufacturers are legally obligated to notify NHTSA within five business days if they determine that a safety defect exists. NHTSA said it learned through documents obtained from Toyota that the company knew of the sticky pedal defect since at least Sept. 29, 2009, the agency said.
That day, Toyota issued repair procedures to its distributors in 31 European countries and Canada to address complaints of sticky accelerator pedals, sudden increases in engine revolutions, and sudden vehicle acceleration. The documents also show that Toyota was aware that consumers in the United States were experiencing the same problems, the agency said.